Distinguished Victorian Vineyard Sites

The promising early messages of Victorian wine are now being delivered in the bottle. Grape varieties are now being more precisely matched with particular vineyards, some of which Petaluma’s Brian Croser would label as ‘Distinguished Vineyard Sites’.

According to Croser, these sites will account for only a tiny section of the huge vineyard expanse in new wine regions, and will be as small and rare in as the great vineyards of France. Yields, he says will be low, creating the superior concentration of aroma and fruit sweetness of the future great wines of the New World. The vineyards will be located in cool, humid regions on relatively poor, freely drained old soils. Slopes will be northerly and easterly to maximise early morning sunlight.

From a Victorian perspective, Croser’s prescription would appear to suit a number of our top vineyards already in production. Let me introduce some Distinguished Victorian Vineyard Sites.

Mount Mary’s Dr John Middleton chose his spot well. Predominantly a north-north-east slope, his soils are classic Yarra Valley grey sandy-clay loams; less nutritious than one would consider ideal for other forms of horticulture. Vigour and yields are naturally low, around 1.5 to 2.0 tonnes per acre except for the pinot noir which ranges from a minuscule 0.75 to 1.5 tonnes and Middleton experiences little difficulty in controlling canopy growth during the ripening season.

Mount Mary is unquestionably one of the New World’s greatest vineyards. It’s ability to produce brilliant wines from both the Bordeaux and the Burgundy varieties, albeit not always in the same year, confuses even its owner. “One year the cabernet blend works so well I think I’m in Bordeaux,” says Middleton, “but next year the pinot looks distinctively Burgundian.”

Middleton also ascribes much of the complexity of the Mount Mary cabernet blend to the nature of the plantings up a gentle slope. The top is warmer, where he can develop over-ripe qualities, while the lower soils, with more water retention, ripen later and develop more grassy characters. “If you pick them all at the same time,” he says, “you achieve an entire melange of flavours.”

Bannockburn is another of those vineyards whose proven performance with both Bordeaux and Burgundian varieties seemingly defies established logic. Gary Farr also planted this vineyard on north-east facing slopes, on two distinct soil types, which is perhaps the key to the issue. Bannockburn pinot noir and chardonnay are given mineral-rich volcanic loam over limestone, with an average soil depth of around a metre. The vineyard’s cabernet sauvignon and shiraz are found in sand and gravel.

Bannockburn’s Bellarine Peninsula climate, aspect and soil types, not to mention Farr’s fastidious refusal to compromise with flavour, keep Bannockburn’s crop level to around two tonnes per acre.

Although Trevor Mast sheepishly confesses he’s not quite certain what puts the spiciness in the bottle, Mount Langi Ghiran is known for its rare breed of peppery, fleshy shiraz with the ability to cellar for a decade and more. Mast believes that if his east-north-east granitic and gravel-loams were found any further south, he probably wouldn’t ripen his shiraz each year. “We’re just on the border of getting it ripe”, he says. “Down here near Ararat we pick it two to three weeks after cabernet sauvignon.” Shiraz is normally taken off much earlier.

So what’s Langi’s secret? Low yielding, low-vigour mineral-rich soils, its location in a cold south wind corridor which retards ripening and a classic aspect to intercept early sunlight and warmth. Sound distinguished enough?

Conversely, some of Victoria’s distinguished vineyards are actually found in deeper soils and more vigorous sites. Oakridge is high in the Yarra Valley hills above Seville. Michael Zitzlaff confesses the vineyard takes a lot of work to control, especially in the ripening season, when excessive vegetative growth would certainly diminish wine quality. The soils are a relatively deep 3 metres of duplex clay, which manages to retain water in summer, but doesn’t become excessively waterlogged in winter. What’s more, the aspect of the original vineyard now entering its 19th growing season is westerly.

Mike Zitzlaff does concede that these vines struggle in cooler, wetter years, such as 1988. When cropped low around 2 tonnes, however, the results almost exceed the imagination, as the Oakridge 1990 and 1991 Reserve wines confirm. More recent Oakridge plantings are on east-north-east slopes and include more merlot and cabernet franc. Watch that space.

Massoni Chardonnay has quickly developed a reputation for richness, concentration and fleshiness. Leon and Vivienne Massoni planted their tiny vineyard on a north-west slope of rich volcanic soil on Red Hill, at a chilly altitude of nearly 300 metres. Although the coolness of the climate and basic trellising have to date held yields back to around or just under 2.0 tonnes per acre, the introduction of a Scott-Henry trellis should lift crops to 4.0 to 5.0 tonnes. It is perhaps presumptive to include such a young vineyard in this listing, but it’s a punt worth taking. We should know in two or three years if such a superb site can maintain its standing at higher cropping levels.

Finally, a truly distinguished site that seemingly faces the wrong way. Rick Kinzbrunner deliberately sought a cooler south-facing slope on which to establish the Giaconda vineyard, high in the Great Divide near Beechworth, overlooking the warm plains of Milawa. “This place is hot in summer,” Kinzbrunner observes, “so I had to find the coolest aspect.” His soils are ancient, eroded crushed gravel-clays, and the yields from his five-acre vineyard are tiny. Another acre of chardonnay with perhaps a little rousanne is soon to be planted, largely to improve the view from the house, Kinzbrunner once told me.

And Giaconda’s quality? Well, if you sat there drinking its chardonnay and pinot noir you could well be forgiven for thinking you had discovered a Burgundian domaine established in Australia. That image, however, would be shattered the instant you sampled its cabernet. As at Bannockburn and Mount Mary, you find things at Victorian Distinguished Vineyard Sites that simply aren’t supposed to happen. Please login to post comment